Water L. Webster

WALTER L. . WEBSTER

NEW YORK, with its pre-eminence as a port, also a world-famous center of the marine insurance interest, in which profes- alter L. Webster occupies a prominent place. He was born in Oak Leaf, Ontario, Canada in 1S71, the son of William and Patience E. M. Connors) Webster. He was educated in Canada and graduated from collegiate and normal training school in 1890.

Following graduation, he came to the United Mates and entered business life with the W. A. V ebster Lumber Company, of Clayton, New York, until 1895, when he entered the First National Bank at Clayton, remaining in the employment for two years and thus gaining a valuable fund of information about the methods of banking and finance. After this experience he came to New York and became identified with Wall Street business from 1897 to 1911. He obtained membership in the Consolidated Stock Exchange and was one of its most active and in-fluential members, serving on the most impor-tant committees of the Exchange, including the Law, Legislative, Ways and Means, and Membership Committees, and was long a member of the Board of Governors of that Exchange.

He became impressed with insurance as a profession in which he believed he could build up a good clientele and establish a permanent and remunerative business. He therefore organized W. L. Webster & Company, fire agents and marine brokers, in 1911, and in 1916 reorganized it into a corporation as W. L. Webster & Company, Incorporated, of which he is president, with offices at 1 Liberty Street. The business has steadily grown, and attained a place among the stronger representatives of insurance interests.

He was chosen by the National Benefit Assur-ance Co., of London, England, as its United States attorney, and is now serving in that capacity, and he also represents as agents several prominent United States companies for surplus lines.

During recent years many fire insurance or-ganizations which formerly confined their operations to underwriting fire insurance policies have established marine insurance departments, and have thus placed a greatly increased aggregate capital behind marine insurance protection. In this important devel-opment in the marine insurance field Mr. Web-ster is a leading participant.

Never before has the marine insurance business known such a season of activity and growth as that in the United States during the war period since August, 19x4. Risks were great and premium? correspondingly high, and the number of voyages and vessels in service from the United States to overseas ports was vastly increased.

He is also president of the Marine Utilities Corporation and of S. W. Scott & Company, In-corporated. In International Rotary his classifica-tion is Marine Insurance Broker. He is a member of the Field and Marine, Drug and Chemical, Long Island Automobile, Canadian, and Old Col- only Clubs, and of the Terrace Club of Flatbush, Economic Club of New York and the Thousand Islands Fish and Game Club.